Visions Spring 2018 VOLUME 12 VISIONS is Elon’s student-run journal. Its mission is to provide an opportunity for students to publish their works that deal with issues in environmental studies. Visions publishes a variety of Elon student and alumni works, including research articles, creative writing, poetry, media reviews, photography, and more. All submissions are reviewed by a team of student editors before publication. The ultimate goal of Visions is to raise awareness of environmental issues as well as prompt conversations about sustainability on this campus. Contributing to VISIONS Visions seeks compelling and well-written contributions on topics related to the environment or sustainability. Research articles must be grounded in scholarly literature, and creative pieces must be original work. All submissions must advance the goal of the publication.

Submissions for the Spring 2019 volume of Visions are being accepted! Please email your piece to [email protected] or go to our web page, through Elon’s Office of Sustainability page, for more information about the criteria for submissions and information about our journal.

We wish to thank Elon University’s Center for Environmental Studies and the Office of Sustainability for their support. Student Editorial Staff Production Designers Bailey Numbers ‘21 Editor-in-Chief Emily Barger ‘18 Samantha Gardner ‘19 Julio Dragonetti ‘18 Nicole Hawley ‘21 Samantha Feher ‘17 Olivia Jacquier ‘20 Bobby Hoechner ‘18 Soula Kosti ‘18 Ellie Moultrup ‘18 Louisa Sholar ‘20 Jasper Pike ‘18 Georgia Smith ‘19 Emma Scully ‘18 Sabrina Tuton-Filson ‘19 Will Timpson ‘18 Kaitlin Welch ‘19 Sarah Vates ‘18 Jane Williams ‘21 Zaria Zinn ‘18 Jeff Zoldy ‘18

Faculty Advisors Scott Morrison - Assistant Professor, Education Cassandra Kircher - Professor, English Michele Kleckner - Senior Lecturer, Computing Sciences

This magazine was printed on Cougar Digital Text White. It is Rainforest Alliance Certified and FSC Cover2 Visions photo by JacobMagazine Staedler ‘19 Certified (Forest Stewardship Council.) Contents Book Review Opinion

3 Down to the Wire 10 Destroy Our Parks Brittany Sicilliano Andrew Textoris A Call to 18 Lara Struckman Poetry Elon Garden Studio 30 Soula Kosti 6 The Western Greenway Georgia Smith

Swimming Upstream 8 Emily DeMaioNewton Creative Nonfiction 12 Oklahoma at Sunset Skipping Stones Ryan Keeney 16 Emily DeMaioNewton Santa’s Greenhouse Blue Moon 28 Caroline Saviano 25 Emily DeMaioNewton

Maybe There’s a Farm in Heaven 26 Soula Kosti

When the Snow Was as Tall as I Was 27 Brittany Coppla From the Editor

I used to be plagued by this self-fulfilling prophecy. I’m always reading news headlines that characterize our generation as lazy, apathetic, and disengaged. That we millennials can’t muster an opinion on the issues that affect us. In my high school, we celebrated “Fight Apathy” day, as if it were a battle already lost. The students were all given a sticker to proudly write and display a cause that they believed in. I always found myself staring at the fresh, unmarked sticker, trying to figure out what I believed in. Do I believe in anything? Maybe they’re right… But coming to college, I’ve become assured of the value of my opinions. I’ve found that this notion of apathy simply does not apply to Elon students. The pieces that lie ahead are brought to you by authors who care — really care — about affecting change in this world. They care about the animals that roam this earth. They care about bringing awareness to people of their environmental impact. They care to encourage growth and learning about issues of the environment. They care enough to attempt to put into words the unending beauty of the natural world. Most of all, they care to take action. The content of this issue serves as a reminder that people of our generation have opinions worth sharing. More than that, they see issues of the environment as worth writing about. I want to thank the authors of this issue for their stories, their research, their big, beautiful opinions. The world is changing because of you. To our readers, thank you for yielding your time to these brave works. We hope we can inspire you to believe in your opinions, too.

2 Visions Book Review: Down to the Wire by David Orr By Brittany Sicilliano

Spring 2018 3 In David Orr’s 2009 book, Down to the Wire, he strong example of motivated and effective leadership outlines how leaders and political institutions must when handling controversial and complex issues. Orr learn from history in order to make a significant also cites President Franklin Roosevelt as a role model impact in the realm of sustainability. Using past for leadership. When President Roosevelt took over, examples of leadership, he tells us how to use these he faced challenges of keeping a country together in the examples as a model for modern day politicians to push face of an economic collapse. Instead of heightening the sustainability into the forefront of the world’s issues. widespread panic caused by the Great Depression, he The numbers alone prove that environmentalism worked to inspire and spread hope while keeping the can no longer be ignored. Studies show we have the country from economic collapse. Although he did not most amount of carbon in our atmosphere now than we end the Great Depression, he did restore confidence in have had in the past 650,000 years. Additionally, with the country. Orr argues that these examples of successful deforestation and burning of fossil fuels we have already leadership and initiative should serve as a model for caused a 0.8°C increase in our contemporary leaders. the world’s temperature, Our current administration and with greenhouse “We, in America, have the tools must not push aside clean energy gases still being pumped legislation; we need it to put into the atmosphere, we to learn how to survive under victory gardens on the White can expect to see a further scarce conditions, but we must House lawn and solar panels on increase in the future. government buildings. Instead While polls may teach them to others or we will of spending a trillion dollars a show that knowledge of fail as a country.’’ year on our military and defense climate destabilization is forces, there must be work done increasing, we have yet to close the gap between the to see a significant shift in richest and poorest citizens. If our preventative actions as a nation. We are still highly the current administration cannot prove to be the leader dependent on cheap fossil fuels such as coal and oil. we need, perhaps that will be enough for us to stand Orr tells us in his introductory chapter that “the enemy up and do it ourselves. By taking matters into our own is us…but all of us together, properly led, can make a hands, there is hope that the issue of sustainability will big difference” (p. 7). However, we are still waiting for not fade away from the forefront of American political this leadership to enact major changes. It is going to be discussions. Throughout the book, Orr outlines a imperative that we take the proverbial bull by the horns number of challenges and priorities that American and start taking steps towards a more sustainable future. will have to face in the near future. Whether it is the Orr analyzes past examples of successful leadership, challenges posed by or the breakdown of our starting with figures like Abraham Lincoln and ecosystems due to anthropogenic causes, these challenges Franklin Roosevelt. During Lincoln’s presidency, the must be faced head on in order to ease the damages issue of slavery was in the forefront of everybody’s that global climate destabilization will inevitably cause. mind. He established a clear plan for change while Due to the lack of action from our modern day striving for unity. Lincoln’s presidency serves as a leaders, Orr suggests that we look to corporations to

4 Visions take the lead as agents of change. This idea is especially speak to us about living simply. His proposal of simple significant because many experts and environmentalists living included using renewable energy for electricity, feel as though corporations are leading the charge in the using hot water and solar cookers to cook his food, assault against our planet. America is the home of many and growing vegetables and grains, as well as other big box chains responsible for mass producing waste and sustainable initiatives. Although it may be difficult to filling up landfills. While many businesses have made persuade masses to adapt this lifestyle, Americans can efforts to implement “green” initiatives, they have yet to still incorporate some of Merkel’s habits into their daily commit to entirely sustainable operations. As Professor living. He also talked about visiting other countries and Carroll, of the University of New Hampshire pointed out studying their cultures and lifestyles. While Americans during lectures, by definitions, these stores (such as Wal- often view untouched land as a resource to be destroyed Mart or McDonald’s, etc.) cannot be truly sustainable. and exploited, Merkel tells us that the other cultures Personally, I have a hard time looking towards those look at the land as part of their family and communities. who are harming us for help, as Orr suggests. I feel We need to adapt the same respect for nature as these that our current big-box corporations have not proven cultures do in order to reduce our negative impact. that they have the capability to successfully lead an Down to the Wire is an eye-opening account of how initiative towards sustainability in the corporate world. we must change our ways in order to avoid ecological When discussing the impact of corporations and disaster. Although Orr’s perspective on modern society on our daily lives, Orr reminds us that may appear grim, he raises very important points. advertising has in some ways taken over modern society. Without this kind of insight, we are doomed to continue Orr demonstrates how many advertisements, even for on our path of destruction. Reading Orr’s other works, “green” products, still push the masses to consume. “So articles like “What is Education For?” and his book The we are told to buy hybrid cars, but not asked to walk, Nature of Design, has helped me to form my pedagogy bike, or make fewer trips, even at the end of the era regarding environmental education. He has pushed me of cheap oil. We are asked to buy compact fluorescent to look more in depth into the education system and light bulbs, but not to turn off our electronic stuff or how it must be fixed. I would like to see a society that has avoid buying it in the first place. We are admonished more Waldorf schools, which place a bigger emphasis to buy green, but seldom asked to buy less or repair on environmental education. Overall, Orr’s insight what we already have or just do without” (p. 187). has been impactful, and his words should not be taken After further exploring the topic of sustainability, I lightly. To avoid disaster, we must heed Orr’s warnings have been focusing my attention on consumption and start making changes in our own daily lives. reduction. I believe that Americans must not only make efforts to “reduce, reuse, and recycle” but also to “repair and rethink” in order to truly change our ways. Experts have also proposed that Americans have the capability to survive using fewer resources, but have not taken the initiative to learn how. Jim Merkel, who wrote Radical Simplicity, visited a class of mine in graduate school at the University of New Hampshire to Photography by Sabrina Tuton-Filson ‘19

Spring 2018 5 The Western Greenway By Georgia Smith

Outstretched skeletons of trees travel along the endless canopy of sky dappled rays of grey and turquoise, sifted by the sunlight.

The Atlantic visits this edge of the island in glossy pools of blue, straying out into patches of tiny orange fowers, blue and orange and yellow weaving this hidden world of green.

Sheep graze sleepily across the horizon, And hazy breaking light casts them into the backdrop of tumbling mountains a mythic kingdom built for the simplest measures of life.

Now, the sun has done its day’s duty and departs shyly, as fat shadows awake from their rests and begin to stretch their bodies across every surface of the earth:

6 Visions the glowing yellow rocks and lustrous cold ponds, and the unraveling path below my feet. Now only frail spools of sunlight remain to keep the composition alive.

This land is somehow every land the dry maze of tawny felds and the refrain of lapping water and the timeworn trees and all their descendants.

Every word the earth has ever spoken tells me that this is where I belong, where everyone must belong, yet the land is isolated and empty.

Civilization manifests here only in brittle half-walls of rock and sleepy old bridges, a people’s land that the people chose to just let be.

The Western Greenway is a bicycle and walking path that runs along the coast of western Ireland, from the towns of Achill in the north to Westport in the south. I was fortunate enough to visit the coast while studying abroad in Ireland for a semester, and was astounded by both the beauty and the loneliness of the farms, forests, and beaches across the land. I was inspired to write this poem as a refection on the solitude and grandeur of nature, as well as a reminder of what our earth would look like if it had been left untouched.

Spring 2018 7 I wrote “Swimming Upstream” while thinking about the ways humans romanticize nature, but judge each other, and the ways we define or perceive bravery. Humans take advantage of nature in ways that suit our needs — renting houses by the beach, eating fresh fish — while trying to dominate and change it when it doesn’t behave the way we want. We tend to do the same with women. Photo by Mara Shook ‘21

8 Visions When my mother and sister go to the fish market to pick up salmon for dinner, my grandmother sits with me, husking corn at the kitchen table of the cottage we rent by the seaside each summer. I ask her if she’s sad that she never married, if she’s ever looked across the ocean and wondered if someone on the other side is looking back toward her. She drops husk after husk onto the table and tells me of all the men who came into her body under the pretense of love, only to tear at her voice until she could barely make a sound, and with every word they tried to take a strand of her hair turned silver. I stop husking because each time I reach the center, I find the yellow corn surrounded by tender white strings and I feel like I’m intruding. My grandmother says she started wearing pearls and old-fashioned cardigans because she thought it would stop as she got older, but she says it hasn’t stopped. She tells me that in Ancient Greece they believed in soulmates, but they were wrong about the gods, and the only place anyone told her she made them feel whole was her third lover’s suicide note. It turned out he didn’t kill himself but drove cross-country in search of wine that tasted better than her lips. When my mother and sister return home, they cook the salmon until the vibrant pink pales, and I wonder why we give fish so much credit for swimming upstream to mate when they usually die in the process, but when people looked at my grandmother, with her two daughters and bare fingers, they didn’t think of the sacrifices she made to make sure they still felt the river was a safe place to be.

Spring 2018 9 Destroy Our Parks, DESTROY OUR FUTURE By Andrew Textoris

10 Visions ational parks offer more than just a chance to intervention. To try and reverse the damage humans showcase the natural beauty of North America. have done, we must reach out to local lawmakers and NThey show us what we don’t often see: raw, groups such as Greenpeace, Sierra Club, and Patagonia. undisturbed, beautiful nature. The federal government Parks and politics should not be one and the same. Once protects nearly 53 million acres of national park land, a state gives land the title “National Park,” they are able to an area larger than most of the United States East use the land in any way they wish. Decentralized power Coast. What if all of that land was passed is consistently a part of conservative down to the states instead? What politicians’ platforms. However, if federal agencies no longer when power is put into the hands had access to this land and the of lawmakers whose priorities ability to protect it? are economic or personal gains, We are living problems can arise. in a time where For example, preservation states that have of our national politicians with parks should be this mindset in a priority in our office, and have government’s national parks legislation and in within their the minds of the border, are able public. to do the most National parks damage. At the same support fully time, most states functioning, are given little to intricate ecosystems no power if there is with high levels of no park within their biodiversity, efficient border, thus making these carbon sequestration implementations even and a place for nature more disproportionate. to rebound from National parks should be humanity’s selfish actions. left up to experts, people who They offer a glimpse of what care and want to make a positive United States land looked like impact on what the parks mean for before human intervention and the country and the world. development. In addition, these It is ethically wrong to use land for parks give us the opportunity to learn economic opportunities. Although how fragile and delicate our ecosystems global competition in the economic market are and how impactful our actions can be. is at an all-time high, there will be no future Direct consequences of human intervention if we only focus on short-term economic gains. on national parks include polluting water, Using these lands for their abundant resources is not cutting down trees, and disrupting the ecosystem. sustainable, and will not benefit our economy for more Indirect actions can be just as devastating: human than a few decades. This is where preservation becomes byproducts, such as personal carbon emissions, key in moving forward. Our current president wants to accumulate and impact national parks on a larger scale. be remembered as a man who positively impacted the These indirect consequences are not always visible, but economy and America’s standing in the world, yet this will affect our environment negatively over time. won’t matter if we don’t think about the future and our We need to think about the future of our natural ability to preserve our country’s natural land. surroundings. National parks give us a rare glimpse of what Earth would look like without human

Spring 2018 11 Photo by Marvin Bredel

Oklahoma at Sunset By Ryan Keeney

12 Visions tried to shoot a deer once, a doe. I was 11 years the first place. Not pulling the trigger on that gray old, old enough to know I didn’t want to shoot an November morning has stayed with me to this day. I animal, but young enough to think I had to. My dad That feeling that maybe, just maybe, I was something crouched in front of me with my gun on his shoulder less than a man because I’d never killed anything. Dad — I was too small to hold the rifle up myself — as I took never made me feel like I was less. I felt it. I imagined little gasps of air and looked down the sight. Exhale and that when Olivia broke up with me in seventh grade pause, then shoot. The mantra had been drilled into me it was because I wasn’t manly. Maybe that was the through hours of target practice. The doe was 70 yards reason I got cut from Varsity soccer freshman year out, gently enjoying chewy grass while the mist gave of high school. As years passed, I always felt that I her some cover. The world around us was my favorite had something to prove. I thought that I had to act a kind of gray. She looked peaceful. For a moment, with certain way just to be able to compare myself to Dad my finger hesitating on the trigger, it was almost like and other men. Not shooting the doe haunted me the world consisted of just the doe and me. Dad said, even after I thought I had my masculinity figured out “Are you sure you want to shoot a doe?” I wasn’t. I college, and had come to terms with myself as a person, thought, Please Ryan, just shoot. Just pull the trigger. not just a man. I carried that chip with me all the way It’ll be so easy. And I swear, I tried to pull that trigger to Oklahoma, ten years after not shooting the doe. just to prove that I could be big, that I could be a man. Oklahoma at sunset is orange. Dried clay matched I’m not sure how long Dad crouched in that gravel the ruddy orange of the sky as the sun drooped low. road waiting for the boom to rattle his eardrums. Journeying to the hunting ranch in Oklahoma was a But, the gun never went off. Finally, red-faced with birthday present for Dad arranged by my Mom. Mom shame, I managed to choke out, “Dad, I don’t think I doesn’t hunt, she just likes to be out in nature and was want to shoot a doe. Can we wait till we see a buck?” excited to hike around the ranch while my Dad, my Dad’s a hunter, but he’s kind too. To answer, he brother Andrew, and I were hunting. Dad had always stood up, slung the rifle across his broad camouflaged wanted to hunt boar, and it would give us a good chance shoulders and whistled. The doe froze with grass to be together away from civilization for a couple days stuck to her quivering lips. She looked at us, my figure in the middle of summer. In the days leading up to the dwarfed next to Dad’s, and galloped off into the mist. trip, he kept bombarding me with ecological evidence My young self thought that being a man meant always for the culling of hogs. They’re “a nuisance, destructive, being right, never wavering in your decision-making, eat anything in their path, don’t stop growing as long and always being ready to take charge of a situation as they have a food source, and [the one that resonated at any given time. Not bad qualities, but not qualities most with me] they’re invasive. They keep multiplying that are actually gendered. My desire to be like my and growing and push native species to extinction and father was so important to me that I disregarded the drive indigenous ecosystems to collapse.” Dad knew fact that I didn’t really know what manhood was. At the about my hunting qualms; I think he wanted to prove age of five, I famously asked my cousin Emma while to me that this kind of hunting was morally defensible, bathing together one night, “When are you going to that the culling of boar for the sake of preserving grow a penis?” So, it’s safe to say my manly expectations the ecosystems of the indigenous species was right. were confused from a young age. That could be traced My brother Andrew, who at sixteen had already killed to society’s patriarchal mold or my family’s more two deer and two turkeys, seemed excited for this new traditionally conservative values, but I think it was a challenge and never forgot that though he’s the little product of both. I felt like I had to abide by some code brother, his “count” is higher than mine. With an hour or just to earn something that in reality exists in a much so left to go in the car ride, Andrew looked at me worriedly different and more nuanced way than I could see when and said, “So, are you gonna shoot anything this time?” I was a child. For me back then, to be a man meant “Probably not man, you know I think it’s kinda I had to shoot a deer. I had to prove myself worthy. ridiculous to kill things for no reason.” I replied. His I now know that it’s crazy to think it would be better eyes stopped scouring my face to focus instead on the to shoot a buck than a doe. Or, for that matter, that rolling tumbleweeds out the window. “Yeah, I know. I thought I had to shoot a deer to impress my Dad in I just thought it might be different cause it’s Dad’s

Spring 2018 13 birthday.” In a weird way Andrew was right. That did you already told everyone you weren’t going to shoot make things different. Never before had I gone on a anything. But the guttural screeches in the nearby hunting “expedition.” The three hunters, Andrew, Dad, woods forced me to really take notice of the weight of and myself, paid a set price for the chance to shoot two the black gun in my clammy hands. Then, the sounds boar each over the course of the trip. Before the trip moved West, over towards where Andrew was similarly to Oklahoma, in those later years after I stopped going hidden up a tree about a half mile down the canyon. out with Dad at the crack of dawn, I would venture Just when I thought my prayers had been answered, out into the Missouri woods, alone, after being sure a group of fifteen boar emerged into my clearing and to tell Dad and Andrew I was going hunting. I would started snuffling away at the loads of corn the guides had hike out and leave the gun in the tree-stand or my dumped. This isn’t even real hunting, no skill involved. tent and get purposely lost for a couple hours, maybe We’re literally sitting in a tree waiting for the hogs to days if I had the supplies. I would climb trees or track try for the free food. Then we’re supposed to shoot rabbits. It’s nice to see all the little rabbits flock around while they’re too busy feeding to notice the bloodthirsty the big Momma, tender. I always came back empty- human sitting in the tree. Without really thinking, I handed on purpose. But that was Missouri, this was raised the gun to my shoulder. I wonder what it would Oklahoma. Andrew was excited to shoot a boar, so be like, boar are bad for the environment anyway, they was Dad. After the monotonous ten-hour drive from eat everything and destroy crops. They’re a nuisance. St. Louis to Oklahoma, we finally reached the ranch I thought about Dad, he would’ve already taken the and greeted our guides. Andrew asked again about my shot by now if he was in my position, would’ve had shooting preferences. Red-faced with embarrassment, something glorious to smile about around the dinner I gave him yet another, “No, I’m not going to.” The table tonight. But they’re so small, only a little bigger guides smirked and looked at my Dad. He looked down. than my yellow lab Cubby. They did say the smaller The next day, from my tree-stand situated 20 feet up ones are the most tender. If I don’t shoot them, someone in the pines, I heard the clatter of boar hooves hustling else will. Why shouldn’t I be the one to pull the trigger? over the hard-packed, heat-cracked earth for the first I looked through my sight, exhaled, paused and placed time. I’d been sitting up in the tree for three hours the crosshairs behind the biggest boar’s front leg. Right at this point, alternating between singing to myself on the heart. Mechanically, without pausing to consider and trying to work through the moral complexities the repercussions, I twitched my pointer finger towards of hunting. The orange sun was getting darker and me. Instantly, the air around me rumbled; the boar starting to dip low near the tree-line. I had begun to scattered. They oinked and grunted and Oh my God the hope that nature would grant me mercy, no hogs one I shot won’t stop spinning around in a demented would come my way. Nothing to be nervous about, circle with its face pressed into the ground. It kept

“I looked through my sight, exhaled, paused and placed the cross- hairs behind the biggest boar’s front leg. Right on the heart. Me- chanically, without pausing to consider the repercussions, I twitched my pointer finger towards me.”

14 Visions bleeding and bleeding but was still alive so I kept pulling A sad numbness balled up in my shoulders as I sat the trigger; I pulled and pulled and pulled until the boar and watched the boar while night fell. After some lay still. Part of its snout was missing; my hot tears time, lights and the low sounds of people interrupted dripped onto the gun. For one split-second I thought my silent vigil. Dad, Andrew, and a guide appeared on about jumping off the tree-stand but settled for hurling the four-wheeler, there to pick me up. As the guide my pack instead. Why? Why Ryan? The tears hurt. heaved the boar into the backseat to take back to the I sat in silence while the tears flowed, the boar’s lodge and butcher, he chuckled, “Welp, you really got blood pooling in a slow, viscous way. Thank God it had a hold of this one.” Andrew smiled, “Nice shot, Ry.” shuddered its last breath and turned away from me; I could Dad said, “You okay son?” and I nodded, but I wasn’t. no longer see its broken face. A softer snort pierced the I couldn’t tell him that I didn’t try to take a good silence and with utter horror I watched as a smaller boar shot, didn’t care about bringing some gamey meat to made its way into the clearing. It looked at its now dead the dinner table. I shot the boar attempting to be more friend, brother, dad, and started to eat the now maroon of a man and, in doing so, became something less. corn. Feeling sick, I racked the gun’s magazine and with a squeal of fear the little boar raced back into the brush. Leaving me, once again, alone with my conscience.

Spring 2018 15 Skipping Stones By Emily DeMaioNewton

The first time his behavior rings alarm is at the lake, one summer afternoon. His first obsessive tendency: skipping stones across the water, little sister following behind—at first excited by these new laws of physics— but he throws harder, faster, kicking up the sand while running down the beach in search of more flat rocks to break the shiny surface time and time again. She begs him to come home, it’s getting dark, but he can’t hear above the numbers in his head, must get it right, must toss the perfect sequence through the waves, must find some order in the world.

16 Visions As children learn more about how the human world works, they may look for parallels in nature, because it’s closer to them and more tangible. This poem spotlights a child who searches for order by trying to find patterns in nature and to control his world by controlling those patterns.

Spring 2018 17 A Call to Vegetarianism: To Save our Planet and our Health

By Lara Struckman

18 Visions Introduction We all eat, and what we eat matters. In fact, a large these days, but to many, their meaning is unclear. In portion of our dinner plate is slowly hurting our health simple terms, climate change refers to the long-term and our planet. Evidence shows that food institutions, disturbance of temperature and weather patterns on specifically the meat industry, are largely contributing to a global scale. Global warming can be a symptom of climate change by increasing greenhouse gas emissions climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions with a and using up valuable resources. Furthermore, meat wide variety of contributing factors. While some people consumption and the consequences of global warming deny the fact that global warming and climate change are taking a large toll on human health. In order to are real, “there is resounding scientific consensus that prevent and mitigate further damage, developed global warming is occurring and is largely the result countries like the U.S. need to step up and work of greenhouse gas emissions from human activity” together to make policy as well as lifestyle changes to (Anstey, 2013). Thanks to the atmosphere (composed of reduce meat’s harmful mark. water vapor, methane, carbon dioxide and other gases), Earth is insulated like a greenhouse—hence the terms What is Climate Change? ‘greenhouse effect’ and ‘greenhouse gases’—and the Before one can make any changes, it is important to temperature of the planet slowly rises as more sunlight understand what the problem is. Climate change and is trapped within the earth’s atmosphere. This natural global warming are buzzwords thrown around freely phenomenon is quite beneficial for supporting complex

Spring 2018 19 forms of life. However, it became problematic when to address the issues of global warming and climate humans began producing excess amounts of methane change, the meat industry and its substantial GHG and carbon dioxide, through industrialized machinery emissions must be reevaluated. and transportation, thus enhancing the greenhouse effect and harmfully increasing the temperature of the Eating up Resources planet. Another major way the meat industry contributes to environmental decline is by using vast amounts of Meat as a Culprit land and resources to rear livestock and grow the grain As mentioned, greenhouse gas emissions from required to feed them. To put it into perspective, more human activities have substantially increased as than half of the planet’s nine million acres of available humans have moved into the industrial age. However, land is used for the production of food—most of few recognize the large impact that the meat industry which is utilized in meat production—and therefore has on these levels of emissions. It is important to cannot be used for other means (Tilman & Clark, understand that animal production for food is one 2015). Agriculture could be made more sustainable by of the top contributors to human GHG (greenhouse putting these land, water, and energy resources into gas) emissions. In fact, the FAO estimates that plant production for food going directly to consumers. “livestock production alone accounts for 18% of world Te energy conversion process of feeding, raising, anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions—a greater slaughtering, transporting, and consuming animals is contribution than transportation” (Nef, Chan, Smith, far too costly to the planet’s resources, the population’s & Clegg, 2009). Tis means that despite the exhaust health, and the environment’s wellbeing. In fact, from cars and buses that most people believe to be “land requirements for meat-protein production are the main contributors to global warming, agriculture 10 times greater than for plant-protein production,” and meat production are the real culprits that need which means that with the same amount of resources, addressing. Tis is evident when looked at in terms 10 times more plant-based food can be produced than of “warming potential,” expressed as the number of meat products (Leitzmann, 2003). To further this gigatons (billion tons) of carbon dioxide released, point, Leitzmann also concludes that “about 40% of which were at a staggering four gigatons in 2010, the world’s grain harvest is fed to animals” and that according to Tilman & Clark (2015). Tese numbers just “half of this grain would be more than enough are due to the complex process of transferring to feed all hungry people of our planet” at 2003 levels energy required to get meat onto the dinner table as (Leitzmann, 2003). Shifs towards more plant-based authors Gill and Scott explain, “greenhouse gases are and vegetarian diets could substantially decrease future produced at all stages in the system, from farming and agricultural land demand. In doing so, those resources its inputs through to food distribution, consumption, could be used for plant-based food production, which and the disposal of waste” (2009). Terefore, in order would preserve the environment, improve health, and

20 Visions also help alleviate one of the greatest humanitarian polled from various nations believe that all countries concerns—world hunger. should decrease their carbon footprint equally (Stokes, Wike, & Carle, 2015). Tus, the Catch-22 of Health Effects developing countries continues. Tey are still trying To address the health efects of meat consumption, to stimulate the growth of their own country and it is important to defne the global dietary transition. economy by getting up to speed technologically; Tis refers to many countries switching to a more however, doing so generates more pollution and GHG Western diet, one that includes higher calorie intake emissions. Terefore, in order to allow other countries and increased consumption of processed foods and to evolve and improve their standard of living, animal products such as meat and dairy. Tis diet, developed countries must limit their own emissions and animal products specifcally, ofen contains high by at least 80% (Garnett, 2009). Tis feat can only by amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol, which accomplished through efort from the both policy and contribute to “increased rates of obesity, diabetes, people. heart disease, and other diet-related chronic non- As discussed, meat production is the largest communicable diseases” (Tilman & Clark, 2015). contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and the U.S. To further matters, according to Gill and Stott, the has the highest per capita consumption of meat in demand for animal products is only on the rise, the world. In this country, the “average consumption especially in transition economies (2009). For this is 122.79 kg per person/year. Tis can be compared reason, it is pertinent to improve this situation now, with India, which has the lowest consumption with by shifing eating habits away from unhealthy meat 3.26 kg” (Nordgren, 2012). However, “the U.S., with products and towards sustainable plant-based foods. the highest per-capita carbon emissions of the nations Because of the health detriments of a meat-rich diet, surveyed, is among the least concerned about climate action needs to be taken at the dietary level in order to change and its potential impact” (Stokes, Wike, & make a positive step towards improving global health; Carle, 2015). It is clear that there is a disparity in which will, in turn, improve environmental health. the contribution to, efects of, and responsibility for mitigating climate change. Nevertheless, climate Global Responsibility change is a global issue, so all countries and all people Developed countries contribute the bulk of human- must contribute to its reversal in order to help address induced global warming, yet developing countries the impending disasters of global warming. are the ones most greatly afected by climate change, despite their lower emissions (Anstey, 2013). Equitable U.S. Policy distribution of global responsibility, however, is not So far, the United States has not made many steps to currently the global consensus. For example, Pew mitigate or prevent climate change. A prime example Research Center results show that 38% of people would be the Kyoto agreement: “In December 1997,

Spring 2018 21 the Kyoto protocol was adopted and since then has that they may not take action or not realize its urgency. been ratified by 192 bodies. Under the provisions of the The media is largely responsible for this phenomenon, protocol, 37 countries and the EU have committed to as they present to the public what they deem important reducing greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5% and often little else. In some ways, the media grooms the over the 1990 levels by 2012,” yet the United States has values and thoughts of its audiences. People concentrate not signed this protocol, showing their disregard for on only what they are readily exposed to unless they mitigation practices that other countries are trying to actively seek out other information. This is evident put forth (Anstey, 2013). It is vital that this problem is when it comes to climate change. Environmental topics globally addressed because it affects all people regardless are rarely covered in news media; therefore, most of borders. Americans focus their time and energy on the topics Luckily, many countries have already taken initiative. that are discussed more frequently, like crime, and In the Paris accord conference, there is vast support in terrorism, both of which they have little control over. 39 countries to limit their emissions (Stokes, Wike, Furthermore, studies suggest that people are more apt & Carle, 2015). However, the current United States to pay attention to and be an advocate for issues that administration no longer supports the Paris Accords at they feel are in the hands of the government or big a time when it needs to the most. Consequently, U.S. businesses, rather than issues where they themselves involvement is much easier said than done because feel personally responsible (Neff, Chan, Smith, & “any international agreement requiring more equitable Clegg, 2009). This, in itself, is a call to action: We must emission levels would require the West to constrain get informed about the damage we are causing to the their energy-intense lifestyle,” including consuming planet and our own health, because change requires less meat (Anstey, 2013). In this case, policy is reflected governmental action as well as individual lifestyle by the practices of the people; if they want to see change changes. in legislation, constituents must first lead by example. Another important reason to consider for the lack The U.S. holds a lot of power and global influence of American initiative, is the cost of implementing eco- which needs to be used towards the common good. It is friendly procedures and practices. The U.S. government up to countries like the U.S. to be the model for the rest is reluctant to forfeit the massive amount of money of the world to combat climate change. that the meat industry and other heavy-polluting industries produce as well as the jobs they provide. Obstacles The government is involved in a “policy paradox:” It To further analyze America’s reluctance to act, supports the meat industry and big agribusiness because one must understand the biggest obstacles: limited of the economic benefits, but it is also responsible for information, and cost. First, many Americans are the nation’s environmental practices and public health misinformed about the extent to which climate change sectors, both of which are hindered by these industries. can affect them, and more importantly, how they can While it is true that in limiting these industries people alter the course of its adverse effects. It is because of this will lose their jobs, it is important to consider that there

22 Visions are jobs to be had in sustainable agriculture and other Chan, Smith, & Clegg, 2009). Recall that the U.S. environmentally-friendly businesses as the demand currently leads with levels of meat consumption at rises. Additionally, the benefits of protecting and 336.19 grams/day, so that would be a substantial drop. preserving the planet outweigh the economic costs that However, this call to vegetarianism would have may ensue. immense environmental benefits. To emphasize this, a study was done comparing the environmental and How We Can Help economic impacts of the standard diet versus three While the United States is a leader in many alternative diets: Mediterranean, pescetarian, and innovations, it is certainly not on top when it comes vegetarian. The Mediterranean diet includes the most to accepting environmental responsibility. In fact, “66% meat of the three consisting of mostly white meat, the [of Americans polled] believe people [in the United pescetarian diet consumes only fish and seafood, and States] will need to significantly alter their lifestyles” the vegetarian diet does not include any meat products. to make a positive change in the environment (Stokes, “All three alternative diets could reduce emissions from Wike, & Carle, 2015). Despite the projected population food production below those of the projected 2050 boom and impending meat demand, there are “several income-dependent diet, with per capita reductions major ways to reduce the environmental impacts of being 30%, 45%, and 55% for the Mediterranean, agriculture while still providing a fully populated Earth pescetarian and vegetarian diets, respectively” (Tilman with healthy and nutritious diets” (Tilman & Clark, & Clark, 2014). This shows that limiting meat intake— 2015). Encouraging vegetarianism by taxing foods by especially to the point of vegetarianism—would greatly the amount of GHG they produce and by distributing benefit the planet. Furthermore, the results of this same more information on both climate change and study also showed “there would be no net increase in implementing a more plant based diet can significantly food production emissions if by 2050 the global diet had help reduce the effects of the meat industry on the become the average of the Mediterranean, pescetarian health of our planet. and vegetarian diets” (Tilman & Clark, 2014). This Accordingly, vegetarianism is no longer just “for dietary shift towards healthier, more plant-based the animals”; there is much evidence concluding that diets would dramatically improve the climate change eating fewer meat products could significantly reduce standing. the amount of GHG emissions given off by livestock, A way to promote this lifestyle would be to tax because “plant-based foods generally have the lowest meat. Researchers have shown that different food emissions” (Tilman & Clark, 2015). McMichael et al. crops present varying amounts of greenhouse gases propose “that to stabilize livestock-related greenhouse throughout their production and human consumption. gas emissions, global meat consumption would need Meat products, especially ruminant meats like beef and to drop to 90 grams/day per person by 2050, based on lamb, are by far the highest contributors. To balance expected population rises and increasing wealth and this problem, the Danish Academy of Technical meat consumption in developing countries” (Neff, Sciences has recommended that “healthy foods be

Spring 2018 23 subsidized by 20% and unhealthy foods be taxed at 30%” References (Gill & Stott). Doing so would encourage the increased consumption of healthier foods (more plant-based), Anstey, M. H. R. (2013). Climate change and health - what’s the problem? Globalization and Health, 9(4), 10-12. which limits the GHG emissions and has a subsequent benefit of improving global health and nutrition. du Plessis, A. J., Chen, J., & Toh, W. (2012). International students Notice, however, that the above proposal says “healthy in New Zealand empirical evidence of their influence on future and unhealthy foods” because “prepared items high environmental sustainability. Journal of Community Positive in sugars, fats or carbohydrates can have low GHG Practices, 12(3), 361-379. emissions but be less healthy than foods they displace” Garnett, T. (2017). Livestock-related greenhouse gas emissions: (Tilman & Clark, 2014). So, it is important to find a impacts and options for policy makers. Science Direct, 12 (4), 491- balance between cutting emissions with simple plant- 503. based foods while still making healthy choices. To bridge that gap, there needs to also be better Gill, M., Stott, R. (2009). Public health benefits of strategies to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions: food and agriculture. Science distribution of information to the public, both about Direct, 374 (9706), 1955-1956. climate change and about the diet changes people can make to help reduce the impact. This requires both Leitzmann, C. (2003). Nutrition ecology: The contribution of individual initiative to seek out information to make vegetarian diets. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 78(3), healthy choices, and institutional action to promote 657S-659S. better labeling and demonstrate the benefits of more Luke, M. M., & Alavosius, M. (2012). Impacting community plant-based diets. Armed with this knowledge and sustainability through behavior change: A research framework. these practices, it is possible to create a safer, healthier Behavior and Social Issues, 21, 54-79. planet. Neff, R. A., Chan, I. L., & Smith, K. C. (2009). Yesterday’s dinner, tomorrow’s weather, today’s news? US newspaper coverage Conclusion of food system contributions to climate change. Public Health Through this analysis of the intertwined relationship Nutrition, 12(7), 1006-14. between food systems and climate change, it is evident that the high level of emissions caused by the meat Nordgren, A. (2012). Ethical issues in mitigation of climate change: The option of reduced meat production and consumption. Journal industry contribute to the warming of the planet as of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 25(4), 563-584. well as the ensuing rise in diseases and other health implications like malnutrition. In order to tackle Stokes, B., Wike, R., & Carle, J. (2015). Global Concern about this multifaceted crisis, developed countries have a Climate Change, Broad Support for Limiting Emissions. Pew great responsibility to limit their consumption of Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project. Retrieved from http:// www.pewglobal.org/2015/11/05/global-concern-about-climate- environmentally impactful foods. Tese eforts can be change-broad-support-for-limiting-emissions/ supported by the government, which is responsible for the wellbeing of its citizens and the overall health of its Tilman, D., & Clark, M. (2014). Global diets link environmental country. It should not, however, be seen as solely their sustainability and human health. Nature, 515, 518-522. responsibility; the environment should be important Tilman, D., & Clark, M. (2015). Food, Agriculture & the to every person living on this planet. We all have Environment: Can We Feed the World & Save the Earth? Daedalus, a responsibility to make greener, more sustainable 144 (4), 8-23. choices in what we eat, what we buy, and how we live, and eating fewer meat products would be a great step forward.

24 Visions The full moon emerged through clouds only to disappear again as I sat in the grass with my dog until he decided he wanted to run, so we ran

down the hill through a field of wildflowers—though not a field of wildflowers as I’d imagined during childhood, reading books

about girls in homemade dresses making daisy chains on sprawling acres of country hills. The field was mostly grass, buttercups

and bluets scattered throughout, visible only as peripheral glimpses of color in the moonlight, and only then if you were paying attention. As we ran,

a sudden pang of relief—the weight that had seemed endless, an inevitable pain I’d gotten used to (or just nearly) dissolved. The moon went behind a cloud

and emerged again. My dog panted in the spring heat. A laugh escaped my throat and echoed in the dark. And really, if I’m honest, the field

was just the edge of a golf course, but they were letting weeds grow there, which was enough.

Spring 2018 25 Maybe There’s a Farm in Heaven By Soula Kosti

the first time he took me with him we took in the view of the grand i was as small as a gardenia mountain we heard the river flowing in the i watched him walk on the dirt road distance that led to the farm; and i thought that the place he loved most, the mountains may fall the place he felt untroubled and the river may dry but he would be eternal the sun had left its place at the top of the sky, he would be there leaving the flowers and the trees to watch it all whispering goodbyes and and blame ourselves preparing for darkness for destroying the beauty that surrounds us he walked with a bucket of food in each hand; after he’s gone the animals called on him i still visit the place anticipating their caretaker’s return he loved and loved him so i imagine his shadow my little legs followed him around walking on the green grass i watched him as he filled my hands his hand reaching with corn to gently touch his animals to feed the goats his voice echoing he watched me as I chased the in the mountains chickens but his kingdom is empty now he whistled to gather the sheep and then he came back to me - my hand in his as the wind blew on our faces and made our cheeks turn red

26 Visions when the snow was as tall as i was By Brittany Coppla

letting go of a red balloon meant that someone in heaven or the moon would get it a few minutes later.

when the snow was as tall as i was all the eskimos in antarctica did everything upside down and stars were just pinholes where tomorrow shone through.

when the snow was as tall as i was my cold breath would float up up up to meet other cold breaths, and together they made the clouds where everyone’s secrets were safe.

when the snow was as tall as i was dusk at the ocean meant the sun was dipping into the sea to give fish light while we slept, dawn on the sand meant the sun was blooming into the sky to let the mermaids dream.

when the snow was as tall as i was, i didn’t notice when it started to melt.

Spring 2018 27 Santa’s Greenhouse By Caroline Saviano

t was nearly nine years ago that my family and I The statistics on Ukraine’s orphans are grim. left our home in Massachusetts for a month long There are more than 104,000 children living in the Istay in the Eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk. The state-run orphanages. Each year, more than 10,000 purpose for this extended visit was to complete the children become what they call “social” orphans. Social adoption of a ten-year-old girl named Natasha, who orphans’ parents are still alive but unable to care for had visited our home several times over the past three their children due to alcohol, drug addictions, or years on an orphanage exchange program. Natasha child abuse. Twenty-four thousand kids desperately would later become my sister. need to be adopted, but are less likely to be because of While my parents had prepared me and disabilities they suffer from, or just being older than the my brother for what we would encounter during age most parents want to adopt. At the age of sixteen, the process in Ukraine, no lectures, pictures, or orphans “age out” of the system and are required to explanations could prepare us for the stark reality we leave the orphanage and fend for themselves. Most are would face when first visiting Natasha’s orphanage. At unprepared, since they have little education and few ten years old, my only images of these institutions came skills to find employment. Statistics show that after from movies, and while they weren’t exactly portrayed leaving an orphanage, one in five children will end up positively in films, the reality of the orphanage was far in prison and one in seven will commit suicide. The worse than I expected. The children slept in a room that education at the orphanage provided little in the way held dozens of tiny beds all lined in rows. There was no of life skills, and with no family to fall back on, many privacy, food was strictly rationed, and there was very teens leaving the state-run orphanages end up on the little supervision of the children. The building was in street and are targets of danger. disrepair and the orphanage grounds were overgrown When we finally arrived back home, the with weeds and lacked any usable space to gather for memories from visiting the country of Ukraine were outdoor recreation. Their ‘playground’ was broken, not the beautiful domed churches or the winding rusted, and offered no chance for a pleasant childhood. countryside, but of the dismal orphanage, and the At the end of the day, when school work and chores reality of children who lived there who were barely were completed, the children sat around with little to provided basic necessities. do and no amenities to use.

28 Visions After being home from a trip I was anxious nutrition is lacking. From this, the children also gain to leave, I found myself wanting to return to make a valuable work skills, operating and maintaining the difference. My parents challenged us to do something greenhouses and gardens. Receiving little education for the children in Natasha’s orphanage, which led or training by the time they age out of the orphanage to years of Christmas gift boxes being collected and system at sixteen years old, most will live the rest of shipped over as part of a program we called Santa’s their lives on the streets. The training done at the Shoebox. As I got older, I sought for a plan that greenhouse provides them with marketable skills, and could make a more lasting impact. I built a strong the experience has helped some of these teenagers gain relationship with a girl, Luba, who was in an orphanage employment at local farms and markets. In addition, in Ukraine. She was fourteen at the time, which meant the clean up will provide new outdoor areas where she was a few years away from being on her own. I the children gather for play. Each orphanage Santa’s thought about what would become of her if she was Greenhouse has assisted reports an increase in the left to fend for herself, and the thought terrified me. I amount of time the children spend outdoors, with the remembered her love of nature and her hard-working greenhouse or garden being the focal point. mentality when she came to visit. After much thought It has been more than eight years since and research, I started an organization that provides Natasha became an American citizen, and my sister. the funds for the construction of greenhouses and She is happy and healthy with the benefit of a loving gardens. family invested in her well-being, but others from her Santa’s Greenhouse refurbishes abandoned orphanage are not as fortunate. My story is proof and a greenhouses, constructs new ones, and plants reminder that no goal is too hard to reach. If you see a vegetable gardens on the grounds of orphanages in problem you are passionate about making a difference Ukraine, providing several benefits. Ukraine itself is in, doing research and having the idea is the first step a very industrialized country, that is lacking in parks, to success. It has been my privilege to start Santa’s produce stands, and other outdoor amenities that can Greenhouse and share my passions of the outdoors, be used for income. Constructing greenhouses on the nutrition, and gardening to help improve the lives of grounds of orphanages supplies a steady amount of orphaned children in Ukraine. fruits and vegetables to the orphanage where adequate Photography by Jo Keller ‘19

Spring 2018 29 Elon Garden Studio: Fall and Spring Gardening Courses By Soula Kosti

Elon University offers two semester-long courses She enjoys the way the class is taught and that it gives that provide hands-on gardening and food production. her the chance to spend a lot of time outside. ENS 220 is a two credit non-lab course offered in the “Hands-on learning and experiential learning, in fall, and ENS 221 is a two credit non-lab course offered general, are really beneficial and just a great way of in the spring. Students garden in places such as the Elon mixing up sitting in a classroom, while also being Community Garden, the Elon greenhouse and the Loy outside and getting your hands dirty and seeing the Farm in both classes. fruits and the vegetables of your labor,” said Williams. The class projects call for each student to create Students grow a variety of herbs and vegetables in their own garden, to keep a gardening journal and to their personal gardens, which they get to keep. Through participate in the festivals. During the fall semester, the this, students receive in-depth experience on creating community garden hosts the Pumpkin Festival; in the and sustaining a community garden, while learning the spring semester, it hosts the Strawberry Festival. many health benefits. Students take the classes for many reasons. Marin Sam Eisenstadt, a junior studying environmental Williams, a junior studying environmental studies, science and currently taking the class, said that through heard positive things about the class before taking it. the class he has learned “how to grow [his] own food

30 Visions and to know what [he is] eating and where it is coming Many of his former students visit the garden or from.” contact him around the time of the festivals to check on The creation of the community garden was the thesis how everything is going. project of an environmental studies student, which “My favorite thing about it, once the garden is in full has developed to be a vital part of the Garden Studio production mode, is seeing people from the community courses. These classes are taught by Michael Strickland, come over and appreciate it and see the students who’ve who has been with the Elon Community Garden since been working in it take pride on it,” said Strickland. its creation and calls it one of his “real loves on campus.” Community gardens not only create a more Over the years, each student has helped the garden sustainable eco-system and increase the availability of continue to expand. nutritious food, but they also benefit its members on an Julia Needham, a senior majoring in environmental individual and group level. They strengthen mental and ecological science, said, “Strickland is the best professor. physical health, as well as community ties. He definitely tries to teach us through learning on our “I really do have a warm spot in my heart for the own. He gives us the knowledge, but it’s really getting garden. If anything ever happened to it, I think that out here and putting the work in and seeing what would be my cute to leave,” Strickland said. “But I’m happens.” hoping it’s gonna be there long after I’m gone and hand Strickland has formed strong bonds with many of it off to someone who keeps its legacy up for years and the students who have taken his courses. years.” “Some of my closest relationships with students are the ones who work with me in the garden,” said Strickland. “Once you are a part of the community garden family, it is almost like you’re always a part of it.”

Photography by Soula Kosti ‘18

Spring 2018 31 About the Authors Brittany Coppla ‘18

Brittany is from northern New Jersey, and will be graduating this May with an English degree concentrating in Creative Writing and Literature. During her time at Elon, she has been a poetry editor for Colonnades Literary Magazine, and has published several poems in Colonnades, Visions, and Asterism. After college, she hopes to pursue her MFA in Creative Writing to ultimately become a professor.

Emily DeMaioNewton ‘18

Emily DeMaioNewton is a senior English major who enjoys eating sweet potatoes, watching the sunrise, and reading poems that break her heart. Her writing has appeared in Colonnades, Persephone’s Daughters, and the “Modern Love” column of the New York Times.

Ryan Keeney ‘18

Ryan Keeney is a senior, graduating from Elon in May 2018. He is a philosophy major with minors in creative writing and psychology. Ryan loves rock climbing and spending time outdoors. He is an avid reader and writer.

Soula Kosti ‘18

Soula Kosti is an international student from Greece, graduating in May 2018. She has a journalism major with a minor in professional writing and rhetoric. Soula has a deep love for books and dogs. Her dream is to travel to Australia and hold a koala bear.

Bailey Numbers, ‘21

Bailey Numbers is the editor-in-chief of this year’s Visions. She is a frst-year student majoring in political science and minoring in professional writing and rhetoric. Her hobbies include running, biking and doing all things outside.

32 Visions Caroline Saviano ‘20

Caroline Saviano is a sophomore at Elon University from Wrentham, Massachusetts. She is majoring in strategic communications and minoring in digital art. She loves her Maltese, Teddy, and working for The Edge.

Brittany Sicilliano ‘11

Brittany graduated from Elon in 2011 with a B.S. in environmental studies. She received her MA in Environmental Education from the University of New Hampshire in 2012. She is currently living in New Hampshire, where she works as a Member Engagement Coordinator and is pursuing her love of sustainability in her free time.

Georgia Smith ‘19

Georgia Smith is a junior majoring in English and minoring in theatre arts and communications. Her poems have been published in Parallel Ink, Canvas Literary Journal, and Fifty Haikus. She loves reading, playing guitar, and her dog Delilah.

Lara Struckman ‘21

Lara Struckman is majoring in public health and minoring in German and international studies. She is a yoga and kickboxing instructor and hopes to fulfll her passion for making healthy food more accessible, afordable, and sustainable in local communities and eventually around the world.

Andrew Textoris ‘20

Andrew Textoris is a sophomore majoring in environmental studies and minoring in philosophy and global studies. He developed a passion for nature and environmentalism at a young age. He is interested in sustainability, policy, and international relations regarding environmental problems, and his goal is to one day work for the UN or an international organization advocating for change. Elon University